The Real Reason CMA Doesn’t Want Doctors to Work for Hospitals in Underserved Communities
Last week marked a
meaningful step towards improved heath care access for hundreds of
thousands of medically underserved Californians. SB 726 (Ashburn),
which would allow public hospitals in rural and medically underserved
communities hire a limited number of doctors passed on the Assembly
Floor by a nearly two-to-one majority.
This is especially satisfying because the California Medical
Association (CMA), a tour de force when it comes to political
influence, has become a formidable foe to the growing number of
Californians on Medi-Cal.
CMA quantifies the number of the States
doctors willing to treat Medi-Cal to be 30% – that’s 30% of 128,000, or
38,400, for 6.5 million, soon to be an estimated 9.0 million as a
result of Health Care Reform. While one can respect a private practice
doctors right to choose who he or she will treat; it is hard to
understand why CMA would be against legislation that would support
doctors willing to practice in communities where Medi-Cal and uninsured
are the majority of a community’s population.